Friday, August 27, 2010

A Woven and Half-hitched Paracord Pouch...

A woven and half hitched paracord pouch, that I made to hold the 1/2 inch marbles I use for small monkey's fists and turks head knots. It also serves as a slingshot ammo pouch. About 30 feet of paracord was used, including the cinch cord/drawstring with cord lock.

Hey I am a fan of your work... I was wondering if you can make a gear loft out of paracord cause recently my gear loft in my tent broke and instead of buying a new one I was wondering if there was a way to make one.

Hi, I am also a big fan of your knot work. I like the look of this pouch. How does it compare to the complete half-hitched pouches you have previously tied? Specifically which uses more cord, and which is more durable?Thanks again for all your work, and I will keep logging back in to see your newest knots.

The woven and the half hitched pouches of the similar/same size, use about the same amount of paracord. The cow hitched version uses a little more cord with the extra hitches.

Durability should also be similar since they're made of the same material. The half hitched and cow hitched pouches have more 'stretch' in them when fitting around their contents, where the woven pouch doesn't.

I made the pouch! Well....mostly. I did finish it and it looks alright but not as clean as yours, especially the bottom half-hitching. How tight does the wrap around the can have to be? I found that mine became really tight on the last few stitches and nearly broke my plastic needle.

Hey, i've only been keeping up with your blog for a short time but it has be a huge inspiration for my own knot/braid work with paracord! what color is this gray you used and where did you get it? it looks GREAT!

Have tried this twice and failed. It looks great until I remove the can then everything get's really really "loose". The bottom is great but the "wrapping" cords move around a lot and separate making it UGLY. Any advice?

Sounds like there is too much slack in the weave when you take it off the can. Before starting on the bottom hitching, go back and work as much slack out of the weave, starting at the wraps and working all the way through the vertical weaving, until everything it really tight, but not bunched up, overlapping, or twisted.

Then continue with the bottom hitching before removing the work from the can. That should help it keep it's structure. ;)

hi, i got this link from a fellow yoyoer and love it,didnt have any forceps but managed to get awat with a really thin screwdriver to wedge the cord thru,not saying it was easy and i DID have an accident piercing the can near the end lol. love my new yoyopouch tho, thanks a lot.i had no experience with anything like this before but im really happy with the outcome!top notch how to, all the best man!

I wasn't really worried that my blunt Perma Lok needle might puncture the can(full/unopened), as the cord got tighter during weaving, and managed without an accident.

But,there were a lot of dents in the can when finished, and I imagine if it had been punctured and burst, I probably would have hollered and jumped around a bit while getting doused, lol. At least diet soda isn't sticky with sugar like regular soda. ;)

I don't know if wool or yarn would work, probably not being as 'stiff' as paracord is for structure, but it might be worth a try. I'd think the weaving would need to be tighter with more density, a lot more wraps, and closer weaving... more crochet like I think.

Not sure on adding a pocket, other than maybe making a flat woven piece, and then somehow stitching it to a finished pouch...

Just made two of the pouches. One with a soda can and another with a water bottle. I found that as I tighten up on the water bottle, it came out better suited for a beer koozie than if I used the beer can. It was only about 1/8" wider than a 12oz. can. In order to have more room to work with, I used a sharpie marker to keep enough slack for weaving. I'm always inspired to try new knots after perusing your blog, SD. Keep it up.

Ive just tried to make one of these pouches twice and failed. Everything goes well until I hit the half hitches at the bottom. For every loop up and down a loop is made at the bottom, do you only put 1 half hitch on each and then 1 hitch on each previous hitch until you reach the middle?

@RChambers84, When you reach the bottom, hitch around each of the loops and the last horizontal wrap between them. This makes sure the transition from sides to bottom of the pouch is well connected without gaps.

As you hitch round towards the center of the bottom, you can begin to skip every other hitch as you run out of room.

You can vary the pattern on the bottom with double hitching, doing two consecutive hitches on the loops, etc...

Definitely some good stuff you've got posted here. I've got lots of odd lenghts of 550 cord, so i took this design and made it around a small Tylenol bottle to make a small pouch. Some minor design changes, but it brings me back to my boyhood re learning all these knots. I forgot how useful they could be.

I've just discovered your site. Wonderful knotwork info. Thanks for the instructions on this one. I've seen a strikingly similar-looking thing (though probably not the same) in a Chinese art objects book. It was a ship's ballast woven of young rattan.

Have you tried working with natural fibers (like rattan rope)? I think your stuff would look very good (and rustic) with it.

@Ly, I haven't tried rattan rope. Besides leather, I've done some projects with hemp, cotton, and manila cordage, but it's sometimes harder to work with twisted cord instead of braided, since you have to make sure it doesn't unravel as you work with it.

LOl@ ballast. I meant fender. I'm planning on trying this finer abaca (hemp) rope - I think it's the same as Manila cordage - and the ocean plait mat using thicker rope. Thanks again for providing tutorials!

Hi Stormdrane! I made the woven pouch for a water bottle and the weaved portion turned out great. The half hitches at the bottom seem to be a problem for me, however. It seems that I'm making the pouch even longer because i'm forming this huge cone of half hitches...how do I get the bottom to flatten out? Do I need to tighten my hitches or pull them a certain way? I mean, by the time I finished the half hitches my half hitched portion was almost as tall as the weaved portion. Any advice?Thanks, Grayson.

One question i have is, how rigid is this pouch supposed to be? I have made several per the slide show and my most recent one came out great, however, despite removing as much slack as possible the coils still shift and overlap.

@Anonymous, You can vary how rigid the pouch is by how loose/tight the weaving is done. I have made can koozies with the same pattern that stand up and keep their shape when empty, and pouches that are soft enough to flatten and fold up when empty, but keep their shape.

Sometimes the paracord itself can make a difference. Some cord is softer and flattens out, where some is firmer with a more round shape. I've had paracord with a loose fitting outer sheath over the inner strands, and prefer cord with a firmer, solid feel to it.

How would you do something similar but for a bear bell, about the same size of a golf ball, little smaller, and also put a magnet at the bottom? http://www.backcountrygear.com/catalog/accessdetail.cfm/CO1020

@The Mad Plumbarian, Find a cylinder shaped object, something like a section of PVC pipe or tubing, that is slightly larger than the bell, and tie the pouch in the same process as in the instructions.

It will of course be smaller, using less cord, but the same tying method will apply. The pouch should be tall enough to close over the bell when finished.

The magnet, depending on size/shape, may be glued in place at the bottom of the pouch, or possibly using excess cord after hitching the bottom, you might try to wrap the cord over/around the magnet(if disc shaped) a few times, securing it to the inside bottom of the pouch.

You'd have to experiment with methods of securing the magnet. I haven't tried it but I'm sure something would work.

Cord locks are available at most sewing/fabric stores, like JoAnn or New York Fabrics. They are on the notions wall, where the various helpful sewing gadgets are, like needles, bobbins, marking pencils, etc.

They are more expensive than buying in bulk, but if you only want one or two it works.

@Michael, I don't offer them for sale, but there are others(example from YouTube) that have followed the directions to make their own, even figuring ways to make improvements, and you might ask them if they'd be willing to sell what they've made.

Check around ebay, etsy, artfire for things made with paracord and inquire with those knot tyers, and some of the online forums have buy/sell/trade sections where you can look or put in a request.

Awesome job SD,every time i look for something knotty, youre there to supply!it took me one try to get everything down because of your video and website.Only things i had to do different are i used two shims(large paint markers) around the can, just to get enough room to move the needle around.Then, after, if its not being used for a koozie, shrink the paracord in boiling water for 20 seconds after its all completed, it made mine tighten up, form better, the whole works, and it takes out some of your mistakes ;)

@Makethings, The possible variables on a larger project like that would suggest using enough to probably tie the pouch around a shoebox. So if 30 to 40 feet of paracord makes a small pouch or can koozie, you'd most likely need a several times that amount to cover a larger item.

I can't give an exact number to an unknown set of variables for what would be a mathematical equation in figuring out a formula and answer.

So, I'd be guessing with using a 200 or 300 foot or more length of paracord. I wear size 13 extra wide(4E), and that would use a lot more for a pouch than someone with a smaller shoe size, lol...

@Makethings, There are various different ways you could make the pouch wearable on a belt.

A couple of quick solutions would be adding zipties for belt loops, or add in another strand of paracord for a knotted belt loop, as done like this previous example, showing one added to a paracord sheath..

Hey Stormdrane! Cool site, cool stuff. I made this one, but used three passes for each weave insteadd of two like yours. No reason, just did. Found it to be very unstable once I took the can out. Did you find that to be the case too? So I put the can back in and soaked it in water. Word of warning, the cord shrank! It's definitely firmer, but now the can won't fit. Back to the tying board...Also, I used the vertical hitch for the bottom. I like the way it turns out.

Hey there,Faboulous work, thanks for sharing all of these ...One question if you don't mind, I wonder if this design can be adapted to a smaller size, or maybe there's a different one that might fit better my need: I'm thinking of making a small keys pouch from paracord, on the general shape of this:http://www.hangar111.com/keychoob/keychoobmain.htmor thishttp://www.huntleather.com.au/antonini-key-ring-pouch.htmlWith this kind of pouch one end could be secured to a fixed part of my jeans (belt, loop, etc.) and the pouch would stay in the front pocket hiding the keys and especially without having the keys damaging the pocket.In your vast experience, have you seen somthing that can easily be adapted to what I have in mind ? Thanks a lot for any help ...

@Billy, For a smaller sized pouch, whether woven or hitched, you can use paracord or smaller diameter cord, and tie it around an object that is slightly larger than your keys will be when tucked inside.

Here's an example of a half hitched/needle hitched pouch for a small flashlight.

You'd just need to keep the pattern tight, so that your keys wouldn't be constantly poking through the pouch, or possibly line the inside of the pouch with something like leather or a plastic sleeve...

You can add a clip to the end of the cinch cord/drawstring, or leave a lot of slack in one of the woven strands around the side to ring hitch onto a clip, then work the slack back out to tighten that woven section back up and continue on with tying the pouch...

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